LNP tree policy does not add up

MEDIA RELEASE: November 12, 2017

LNP tree policy does not add up, new ad highlights land clearing reality

Peak environment group the Queensland Conservation Council has expressed incredulity at the Liberal National Party’s latest policy release, which talks about planting 3 million trees over several years while its land clearing policy allows ten times this number of trees to be destroyed each year.

The LNP ‘Three Million Trees’ program claims to be about ‘future proofing our environment’ and cites another organisation’s comments about the value of trees for biodiversity, carbon sequestration, run-off, and oxygen production, but fails to acknowledge any sense of irony in doing so while attacking the efforts to reduce land clearing across Queensland.

At the last count, Queensland lost 395,000 hectares of woodlands and forests to land clearing in 2015/16. That is equivalent to more 30 million trees being destroyed in a single year.

“This tree policy from the LNP just does not add up, literally”, said Queensland Conservation Council head Dr Tim Seelig.

“Championing the planting of three million trees over ten years, when more than 30 million trees are destroyed each year from land clearing, is a quite ridiculous proposition.

“Tim Nicholls must think it’s April 1st again today to announce such a policy when his position on land clearing will undo his entire tree planting program in a little over one month.

“Over the period of ten years that Mr Nicholls plans to plant his trees, three hundred million trees will have been destroyed if his policies were to be adopted.

“If Tim Nicholls and the LNP want to protect our valuable trees, and enhance their importance for biodiversity, carbon and landscape and marine protection, then he should get with the program of stronger land clearing laws in Queensland.

“The LNP substantially weakened Queensland’s land clearing laws, and we have seen the consequences of that. We have had a huge increase in clearing rates to the point where every second in this state, a tree is ripped up and an animal killed.

“We now have a massive land clearing crisis on our hands: a rise of 33% statewide just from the year before and almost a 50% increase in Great Barrier Reef areas. This also released 46 million tonnes of carbon stored in trees into the atmosphere.

“How does the LNP propose to actually reduce the level of land clearing in Queensland? That should be the focus for Mr Nicholls and his party right now.”

To highlight the tragedy of land clearing in this state, the Queensland Conservation Council is just launching a new video ad entitled ‘If you go down to the woods today…’. This will be run on social media and online ad placements, with the possibility of a TV run as well.